As additional service demands are placed on telecommunications systems, replacement of time-sensitive operations is occurring with electronically configurable operations (for example, programmable electronic equipment). A crossbar switch is one example. A typical crossbar switch has a matrix of switches between a set of inputs and a set of outputs. If the switch has A inputs and B outputs, then a crossbar has a matrix with A×B “cross-points” or places where the “bars cross.”
Increasingly, these additional service demands involve operating at optimal speeds to accommodate transmissions of voice and data traffic on the system. Any potential routing changes of the transmissions typically require reconfiguration (that is, rerouting) of multiple telecommunications signals through the crossbar switch. For example, removal and/or insertion of devices from the crossbar typically introduce additional manual configuration requirements to configure new communication paths based on the addition or removal of devices. These manual configuration requirements translate into increased operating costs to ensure that one or more desired configurations are achieved.